Loot Ho
by Quasitable
Summary: After being stuck in the undead asylum since very near the start of the curse, our protagonist is rescued. will what's left of his mind be enough to fulfill the prophecy? note: I will take liberties with characters and lore.
1. Chapter 1- Lost

Blurry faded images... me as a child, running through the streets. A split image, one running playfully and the other in frantic panic. The two converge and consciousness slowly drifts to the surface, just almost breaking the placid calm with thought.

There's stone underneath me. Solid and cold yet pitted and worn from the unyeilding passage of time. The room around me is slowly made known to me as my sluggish thoughts once again sync up with the world. The entirety of my small world as derelect and unyeilding as the stone beneath me. They built this place to hold us. A place to coral us away. A prison to await the end of the world.

The rubbish and tattered scraps, the water, mold, and rot, are as familiar to me as my own body. The room an extension of me. But this is only a feeling. Time had done to my mind what it had to the stone, what it does to everything. The cell that was my whole world for countless years felt so familiar, yet lacking in any actual memory.

Just as it began to recede back into the void; my conciousness was thrust abruptly through the unyeilding calm. Something foreign from above; sound and movement. Looking up, more from instinct and reflex than choice, a figure appeared. Silhouette cutting across the hole above that served as the tempermental light source of my small dingy world.

"...sun" my voice dry and cracked from dissuse came out choked and raspy. It brought surprise and panic. I had forgotten I possesed this ability. Panic distracted me from the figure, but before I could become too engrossed in it, an emaciated body was dropped into my cell from above. It crashed to the floor and brought everything else to an abrupt halt. I stared at it confused. So many new things happening in my world after all the endless nothing was overwhelming. I looked up but the figure was gone.

Who was he? A god, looking in on my little world? It didnt matter, as he was gone, but this body warranted inspection. My attention was immediatly drawn to a gleam coming off something sticking out of a bit of cloth.

"Shiny..." I started to reach out for it, and upon being unable to reach it from my current position, began to push myself up from the stone. The stiffness was present everywhere throughout my person. Body atrophied, yet still able to function due to unknown forces. I made my way to the glimmer, body attached to it all but forgotten. Upon reaching it, I drew it from the cloth, and my world shattered.

I recognised the object immediatly. the metal, twisted and molded into this shape, was unmistakably a key. Without a single doubt I somehow knew it would open the barred door to my tiny world. If recovering speach was a shock, this key was electricity coursing through my veins.

Now standing I made my way to the door and looked out. the hallway as old and decrepit as my own cell, yet several times bigger. I could see other doors, and movement somewhere else down the hall. Unable to stop what had already been set in motion, I was only frozen momentarily while my curiosity overcame my debilitating fear of the unknown. My hand, as if acting on its own, slid the end of the key into the slot and turned.

With a push the door half swung, half ground open. Tentatively stepping out the door, I look down the hallway. It is lined with other cells, but the most worst part was the grotesque creatures in the hall. Quickly ducking back into my cell, I peek out around the corner. The creatures are humanoid, but with shriveled leathery skin, drastically thinned hair, and gaunt, sunken faces. In place of eyes they have two empty sockets with a red gleam coming from deep within.

The creatures feel familiar to me, but I have no knowledge of them. I frantically searched the cell hoping to find a makeshift weapon. Hidden under some debris in the corner I found a cloth bundle with a strange looking doll and a sword handle that was missing most of the blade. I have no memory of either of them, but the way they were lovingly wrapped and hidden meant they had some importance.

With the broken sword in my right hand, and the doll in my left, I cautiously crept into the hall. Even as I got closer, the creatures took no notice of me. They seemed to be caught up in various stages of torment and/or madness. Further down the hall, the cells on the right ended, and a large metal fence looking down into a larger room replaced the wall. The floor of that room was covered in crushed bones in various stages of decay, and pacing around the room was a monstrocity beyond words.

I fell more than retreated back behind the cover of the wall and curled up back against the cold stone. What was that thing?! It was three or four times my height, and many more in bulk. I thought about going back to the room, but banished it just as quickly. There was curiosity, and the need to live a fulfilling life, yes, but there was also a deeper more primal urge that pulling relentlessly. I couldnt quite place it, so I put it to the back of my head.

I looked around the corner to check out the beast once more, but he was also staring up at me. I chill came over me, and sprinted for the stairs at the end of the hall. While rushing headlong, I couldn't help but look back at the beast. I turned just in time to see him chuck a corpse at me. I dove onto the stairs as i heard a tremendous crash. The body had smashed into the fence, bending it in, but not breaking it. The beast stared up at me with such bloodlust that I turned and ran.

Up the stairs and down a hall was a room filled with water. While running through I saw one of the smaller creatures crouched in the corner. Eying him warily, I proceded through none the less. The next hallway dead ended at a small room with an old rusty ladder. The cold rough metal dug into my hands and feet, but I started climbing frantically. My whole existence ached from all this physical exertion after being dormant for so long.

The ladder seemed to go on forever, but finally the end was in sight. Looking up, I had to climb the last bit blind as my eyes adjusted to the light. Upon reaching the top I pulled myself over the edge and lay on the ground. All I could see was sky. It was beautiful, and so terrifyingly vast. I have no memories of the sky, but yet I know what it is. Not wanting to get started on that line of though, I got up and looked around. I found myself in a small courtyard of sorts. On the far side were a large set of double doors, and in the center was some kind of odd sword stuck into a pile of ash and bone.

The sword looked worn, and oddly twisted, but it had more blade than my current one at least. As I reached out to try to pull it free, a small bonfire burst into existence around it. Quickly pulling my hand back I felt a feeling of calm wash over me. All my aches began to fade, and as I looked at my hands, the cuts and scrapes also healed rapidly.

"...What?!" My hands looked thin and frail and leathery. On top of being all leathery, both of my hands were covered in strange runes and symbols inked into my skin. I looked and felt all over my body, terrifying realization setting in. I was one of those humanoid monstrocities. I couldnt beleive it. I had been ignoring my lack of memories, but how could I not have known what I am. Calming down a bit I reasoned that I at least still had my sanity unlike the others I've seen. I stared into the fire which helped calm me even more. It felt so welcoming, like home.

Once again, that primal urge drove me onwards; some unsatiated need. I slowly pushed open the large double doors. The next room was an even larger courtyard, with tall pillars and full of large vases. I could hear the heavy footfalls of what I assumed was the gigantic demon of a creature that had so rudely thrown a corpse at me earlier. Across the room were an even larger set of double doors. These were barred shut. It would probably take a while to free them up... CRASH! Suddenly chaos errupted. The creature from earlier crashed down from the sky. The floor shook and cracked, normally unyeilding stone no match for this kind of force. I quickly turned around and ran straight into a closed door. How did this happen? I pulled on them, but the frame had obviously collapsed, effectively sealing the doors.

I turned and dove to the left to avoid the creatures giagantic stone hammer hurdling at me. I crashed into one of the vases, knocking it over and receiving several cuts from the busted ceramic pieces. Without hesitating I ran, putting as much distance between us as I could. There was no time to unbar the doors that were likely the exit to this aweful place. Then to the left, a doorway, too small for this wretched abomination, but perfectly human sized; as a door should be. The creature was gaining on me, even with his proportionately stubby legs, and great mass, his strides still covered much more ground than mine. I ran for the doorway, seeing the hulking mass quickly approach in my left periferal. I saw it pull back its club, readying itself to crush me, and I dove headlong into the doorway. The giant stone hammer slamming down just on the other side. Fortunatly, I had escaped. Unfortunately there was a flight of stairs directly on the other side of the door I had just dove head first through.

I came back to conciousness next to another bonfire. This one on a ledge overlooking a small partially flooded room. The mystical fire had already healed all my wounds, so I got up and carried on. Through the next doorway was a long hall with cells on either side. The prison here was even more dilapidated than I had previously seen. The cells on the right hand side had all caved in. The ceiling had also completely collapsed, the sky visible through the broken masonry. I was brought back to reality from my sky musings by a sharp pain caused from an arrow sprouting from my chest. I dove into the nearby cell on my left. Strangely enough, shortly after removing the arrow, the pain dulled considerably. Must be a perk of my monster physiology. My leathery flesh barely even bled.

I looked around for some way to defend myself. I found a few boards lashed together, possibly an old table top or something similar. This would make a passable shield. Also looking around there was a fair amount of ragged cloth and rope. Layered, wrapped around, and tied in key places, it made for decent... clothes? None the less, it was padded. While it wasnt exactly armor, it was better than nothing. Armed with my makeshift protection, I peeked out around into the hallway. At the far end, and on top of the corridor's upward slope was one of the humanoid creatures like myself. It fired off another arrow from its bow, which I blocked with my shield. I tried to call out to it, but my voice was little more than a raspy whisper from disuse. So I charged foward, shield up to block the incoming arrows. As I got closer, he turned and ran down a side passage on the left.

As I got to the top of the slope I saw a similar gleam to what drew me to the key in my cell. It was captivating. This, this was the primal urge. I needed to find these gleaming treasures and posess them. I picked it up, and it turned out to be a small hand axe. This would make a much better weapon than my broken sword, which I proceded to tuck into the rope that served as my belt. I turned the corner and raised my sheild just in time to block another arrow.

"Hey... Hey you. Stop." My voice was getting progressively stronger. I was trying to yell, but it at least came out at the level or clear speech this time. "Im one of you. We dont have to fight." Thunk. Another arrow crashed into my shield. I guess theres no other option. I charged foward shield raised, and crashed into my fellow creature. It wasnt expecting this and was momentarily stunned. Capitalizing on this opening, I swung my new axe. It cleanly cleaved into its skull, killing it instantly. Then a wisp of mist like substance siphoned off from the corpse to me. As the mist entered me I felt slightly more complete; more lively.

At the end of the short hall was a doorway. Through this door was a second floor balcony overlooking the small courtyard with the first bonfire I found. On my right were cell bars, and Inside I saw a person laying on a bed of rubble. It was the benevolent god from my cells skylight who had helped me escape. They could not see me as they were turned the other way, and I did not want to be rude by calling out, so I worked my way around to try to find a way in. There was not one. Maybe they magically removed the doors so as not to be bothered? I would return later.

There were also two sets of stairs. one going up, and the other down. I checked downstairs first, but it was only a side door leading to the bonfire courtyard. Upon starting up the other stairs, I heard a grunt and the sound of metal scraping rock. Just then a huge metal ball became visible over the top edge of the stairway. I rolled off the edge of the stairs to avoid being crushed, and landed roughly on the stairs leading down to the courtyard. CRASH! I limped up the stairs to see what had happened, and saw that the metal ball had broken into my saviors place of respite. This was unacceptable, pain ignored, I ran up the stairs and found my fellow abomination who dared to commit such heinous heresy. I walked up to him boldly, and as pushed the wild swipe of his old rusty blade away with my shield, and slammed my axe into the crook of his shoulder and neck. Justice done, I turned around as the wisp from his corpse entered my body. I then rushed down the stairs and into the opening created by the metal ball.


	2. Chapter 2 - Fallen

Upon entering the hole created by that unrully creature, I prostrated myself before my savior.

"My leige, pardon the intrusion. The one responsible has been..."

I trailed off as I looked up. From this distance I saw the dirt and dust, the scratched and heavily dented armor, the way his limbs were in positions they should not be. This was no god. He was a mortal man, a mortal man deathly injured. The man spoke.

"Oh, you... you're no hollow, eh? Thank goodness…I'm done for, I'm afraid…I'll die soon, then lose my sanity. I wish to ask something of you. You and I, we're both Undead… Hear me out, will you?" His speech was broken, obviously difficult due to the pain. I had so many questions, how could there be insanity after death, what was an undead, and why me? Instead of asking, I only nodded, dumbfounded.

"Regrettably, I have failed in my mission... But perhaps you can keep the torch lit. There is an old saying in my family… Thou who art Undead, art chosen… In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords…When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the undead thou shalt know. Well, now you know… And I can die with hope in my heart. Here, take this… An Estus Flask, it mends the injuries of us Undead. Now I must bid farewell… I would hate to harm you after death…So, go now…And thank you…"

My mind broke a little. Here was my savior, who I had thought was a god, dying. Asking me to do what he could not. It was impossible, I was a creature with no memory, no skills to speak of except a penchant for spotting shiny things. His arm was held out weakly towards me, a flask of glowing golden liquid. At that moment, my brain snapped back the other direction.

"No..." I grabbed the flask. He started to contest my refusal.

"Your sympathy is admirable, but you are in denial. You must leave, lest..."

"No! YOU are in denial. You do not get to make that choice. You will fight on till there is nothing left if need be... and I will fight for you to keep on as well." I was angry, but this anger was born out of fear. He tried to speak, but I interupted once again.

"I have no memory, and no chance out here alone. You dont get to save someone and just dump all your problems onto them. So are you going to drink this or am I going to have to force you?" He made to protest, which was the wrong move as I had worked myself up into a panicked frenzy.

"Now see here..." He was unable to say more as I shoved the neck of the flask in his mouth, held his nose, and poured it down his throat. He struggled, but was unable to stop me due to his injuries. Once the flask was drained, I stepped back as he coughed and sputtered. Most of his more life threatening injuries started to mend, but he was obviously still in rough shape. He glared at me in a way that looked both annoyed and confused. I sat him up and draped his less injured right arm over my shoulder and lifted.

"What a fool..." He muttered. I did not know if he was speaking to me or himself.

"That is the truth if I've ever heard it." He looked at me confused, but didnt reply, and didnt resist as I carried him down to the courtyard bonfire.

We sat there at the bonfire in silence for a long time. Both mulling over the implications of our previous interaction. I kept glancing up at him, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking through his helm which covered his face. As if reading my thoughts, he began to unclasp his helm. His hair was a sandy brown, and his face was rugged, but not overly so. He had a broad face that was neither chubby nor gaunt, and his scruffy stubble seemed to fit perfectly on his face.

"Lets start over. I am Oscar, elite knight of Astora. It is an Honor to have you as an ally on this quest." My face lit up with excitement, all my trepidation melted away.

"Thank you greatly for freeing me from my cell. My name is..." I have no memory of my name. I should just choose a new one. Maybe one day I will remember, but for now this is a new start.

"...Sidrach. I may have no memory, but I will assist you anyway that I can. It is an honor to meet you." Oscar put out his gloved hand and I clasped it firmly with my cloth wrapped one.

"Before we begin, could you please inform me about this undead business, and this whole place?"

"You really do have no memory if you are unfamiliar with the curse. The undead curse started cropping up decades ago. People would die, but come back... mostly. The thing about those that are cursed is that if you lose hope and give up you become a hollow. Mindless creatures who seek only to kill, to devour souls. You've likely seen a few already, every other being I've seen here has been a hollow." Even though I had previously beleived I was one of these creatures known as hollows, now that I know the tragedy of their existence, I couldnt even imagine giving up to become one as Oscar had only moments ago. How much hardship and death must someone go through to get to that point? I could only imagine isolation and loneliness could only make it worse.

"If thats the case, then I promise to look out for you; to support you and keep you from hollowing."

"Then I will do the same, including giving you what knowledge and skills I have to help you survive. First things first, we need to get out of here." With that, Oscar put his helm back on and motioned me to follow him. We decided to try to avoid the enormous creature that Oscar confirmed was a demon. Apparently, it had come after him on the roof shortly after he assisted me. One poorly timed dodge led to him being smashed through the roof into the cell I found him in. we passed through the side gate that led to the very same cell. Instead, we went past the impromptu cell door and the stairs going up. On the opposite side the stairs had either been destroyed or crumbled with age. Just as we were about to return to the other stairs, a gleam caught my eye. I needed it.

"Oscar, please help me climb this!"

"No need to get so excited, there must be other ways out of here, there are still those other stair-"

"No, you dont understand, I NEED that shiny thing up there."

"What in the world are you talking about, I don't see anything." Unable to hold myself back any longer, I began trying to clamber up the rubble unsuccessfully. Oscar then gave me a boost and I was able to pull myself up onto the intact portion of the stairs. The glimmer was coming from a small rusted metal ring. I picked it up and slipped it on my finger for safe keeping.

"Got it. Theres also a door up here. Its locked" Oscar then tossed me up a ring of keys he had found while searching the place. None of them worked, so I climbed down the rubble and we continued up the other set of stairs. I showed Oscar my new prize.

"That ring is by far the opposite of shiny, its covered in rust. How did you even see something so small, and why keep it?" I shrugged. It was just something that felt right. These things were calling out to me. At the top of the stairs was another locked door. This one yeilded to one of Oscars keys. In the next area, most of the roof and parts of the wall had collapsed, exposing a view of snowy mountains as far as the eye could see. It would be a long journey even after escaping here. The next thing I noticed was a corpse with another of those glimmers on it. I rushed over to see what it could be this time. I was so absorbed in the glimmer that I failed to notice the three hollows on my left. Luckily, Oscar as an elite Astoran knight, was always on guard. He stepped in between and blocked the two sword weilding hollow's weak strikes.

"What are you doing! That can wait!" Pulled from my reverie by Oscars shouts, I turned, and seeing the situation, circled around his left. Just as he lowers his shield to stab the hollow on the right, I cut down the one on the left with my axe. Only to have yet another arrow sprout out of my left shoulder. Oscar quickly moved between me and the archer hollow and easily cut him down as I pulled the arrow out. He stomped angrily back to me. He then put his hand on the back of my head and pulled me in, until my forehead was touching the cold metal of the top of his helm. Then in as calm a voice as he could muster he berated me for my foolishness.

"That was careless and reckless of you! Here in this cursed world you always need to be aware of your surroundings. Clear an area first, then follow whatever the damn crazy sparkles in your head if you have to." I realized I had put Oscar in danger as well as myself, as he felt obligated to rush in to save me. We were very lucky, as it could have been much worse.

"I am sorry Oscar. It is as though these glimmers call out to me, and I have some sort of compulsion to answer. I might just be crazy, but not too crazy as to proceede without caution. I apologize."

Oscar nodded gruffly, then went to clear the rest of the area while I indulged my compulsion. The body was covered in rags much like myself, but they were more obviously designed as clothes. they had a ceremonial tribal feel to them, with strings of crimson beads interspersed throughout. The glimmer came from a leather satchel cluthed in its right hand. The hand had the same runes tattooed on it as mine did. As I grabbed the satchel, a spark shot from the corpses hand into mine. I pulled my hand back in shock as it began to glow and put off intense heat. I batted at the small flames with my other hand, but it only served to spread it to both hands. I stared in horror as my hands began to look like embers of a fire, the tattooed runes visable, even slightly glowing. It was only then that I realized I felt no pain, my flesh was undamaged, just changed. The fire stopped just a little up my wrists, at the edge of the tattoos.

At that moment Oscar returned and found me staring dumbfounded, apparently watching as my hands burnt off. He rushed over to me, but before he could act I did my best to calm him.

"Its alright Oscar, I am in no pain. This is so strange. Right before you showed up I was wondering if maybe it was all in my head; some kind of crazy hallucination. What could possibly explain this?"

"I have heard tales of a more primal magic called pyromancy; which is the art of manipulating fire. I do not know much about it as such things were forbidden in Astora." Now that I was not in immediate danger of burning alive, I tried to calm myself, to will my flames away for now. Eventually it worked, and I was able to claim the satchel. Inside were scrolls about pyromancy, just as Oscar has assumed.

"I can look over these later, let us get out of this prison."

"I agree, up ahead is a room were I took out a slightly better equipped hollow, probably a guard. It turned out to just be the room on the other side of that door we didnt have the key to earlier. But just down this path and to the left is a large fog door. If my mental map is accurate, it would put us on an upper level of the large courtyard where the main door is."

"That is where I last saw the demon... What is a fog door?"

"A fog door is a barrier made when a strong soul claims an area as its own. It deters weaker foes, but also allows them to bar exit from their domain. If what you say is true, then this one is likely made by the demon, so he will be awaiting us inside. I see little choice in the matter though, as it seems to be our only escape route." I swallowed hard to quell my fear, and tightened my grip on my axe and sheild. We walked up to the fog door, and then Oscar boldly stepped through it. I hesitated, but followed shortly after.

On the other side, we were on a small balcony overlooking the courtyard. Oscar was crouched low and looking over the edge. I joined him, the demon pacing below us; sniffing.

"He was most likely alerted by us passing through the fog wall. We should quickly form some sort of plan of- SCATTER!"

The demon had found us, and was staring up at me. Oscar dove to the left armor crashing to the stone floor, breaking his fall with a roll. That left me alone on the balcony, frozen in fear, staring right back into the face of the demon. He had disgusting scaly skin, small horns, and reptilian eyes that burned with chaotic hellfire. On his back were wings that seemed far too small to lift his mass. The word draconic came to mind, and a long forgotten memory of a story someone once told me surfaced in my mind.

...they would even ambush the dragons by dropping from the sky. Jumping off of cliffs or archtrees. Dark knights of men, wreathed in flame...As all this flashed throgh my mind, the demon struck. The beast reared back, and leapt up into the air with the help of its stubby wings. With an upward swing of its great hammer, the demon smashed the balcony, and sent me flying further into the air with a bunch of debris. Time slowed as I made my forced ascent. I could see the demon turn away as Oscar started a counter offensive. Circling and slashing at its thick legs. One thing kept running through my mind, ...dropping...wreathed in flame... Over and over again, even as I started to fall. It was right under me. My hands ignited. The flame was much greater than before, engulfing both my weapon and shield. The bindings holding together my makeshift sheild burned away and it fell apart. My axe fared much better, so I gripped it in both hands and I plumetted towards the demon.

"Dark knights of men, wreathed in flame!"

The demon looked up suddenly at my outburst.

"Dropping from the sky!"

As the flaming head of my axe connected with the head of the beast, the added force of the fall and my weight drove it through that thick skin and skull. The fire spread out as a small wave, just before the handle snapped. I continued my decent, crashing against the rough hide of the demons belly then crashing to the floor. The monstrocity stumbled backwards, and Oscar circled around to its side. He knew better than to underestimate such a monster, and so re-doubled his ferocious assault. I had broken more than a few bones, and had severely burnt both hands. Merely existing was excruciating, so the fight was over for me. Luckily, the beast soon fell back the rest of the way, too weak from the loss of blood from the head wound and the multitude of cuts all along its rear and flanks.

Oscar, took a short swig of Estus, then rushed over and carefully poured the rest into my mouth. It felt like liquid fire. An intense sensation overwhelmed me as my shattered bones crackled back into place. I layed there for several moments in awe at my regenerated skin. We survived. We had done it!

"We did it Oscar, we are demon slayers!"

"I have doubts that one such victory is enough for said honorific. Are you quite mad!? I have never seen anything like that; plunging out of the sky engulfed in flames! It was indeed quite a feat.


	3. Chapter 3- Alive

**Authors Note:** **Sorry for the wait...** **I dont really have a good excuse except laziness and not liking long strings of dialogue. I am going to take this story up to ringing the first bell, then take a short break till I can get dark souls remastered and catch up to continue writing this as I play through the game again. Before that, I will be re-formatting; mostly combining short chapters. So don't be alarmed if there are suddenly fewer chapters. All content will be there.**

 **Also, let me know if there is too much detail. Should every encounter be included, or can fighting through trash enemies be glossed over a bit?**

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It took a while, but eventually we were able to unbar the door. Together we pushed the huge double doors open just wide enough to fit through. Outside was even more dilapidated than the interior. Ruins of previous structures dotted the area. The rubble gave away no clues as to their past purpose. The road leading up a steep incline was overgrown with plantlife and mostly hidden by dirt. We followed the barely discernable path up to where the slope came to a point. The path ended at a steep cliff overlooking the vast mountain range that surrounded us. Oscar sighed audibly, and I could hear his dispair.

"I thought slaying the demon would mean we had escaped. Now it seems we have to undergo an even more arduous trial of trecking through this mountain range... I dont even know which direction Lordran lies!"

I also felt dispair at this new trial, but I was even more exuberant to be out of that asylum after my indeterminate stay of imprisonment there. Just as I was about to try to encourage Oscar, a gigantic black mass swooped up from below the cliff. I was able to discern that it was some type of bird, right before it swept us up in its talons. After we stopped screaming in terror, I realized that the bird was actually gripping me quite gently. I looked over towards Oscar, and he did not seem to be in any physical distress either. The creature was soaring high over the mountains, so I quickly decided that attempting to fight or otherwise free myself would result in a plummet to certain death. I looked over to Oscar again, and he aparrently had the same idea, as he was also making no move to struggle.

After an hour or so of flight, structures and trees started to come in to view. As we got closer, it became apparent that both the buildings and the trees were very large. The buildings were in better condition than the asylum, but not by much. The bird suddenly started to descend, before we were dropped from its clutches in a circular area with a bonfire at its center. Oscar was able to land on his feet, but I ended up tumbling across the ground. As I pulled myself up and dusted off my rags, I faintly heard two chuckles; one short and softer than the other. As I looked up Oscar was still amused by my landing. Another man, sitting on a small ledge at the edge circle, had the faintest trace of mirth still left in his eyes.

"At least this landing was not as detrimental to your health as your earlier one... and no burns this time" Oscar chuckled again, this time at his own joke.

"Not my prefered method of travel, but hopefully it got us closer to our destination. At the very least it got us out of the mountains."

Oscar then removed his helm and approached the sitting man.

"Good day sir, sorry to bother you, but we do not know where we have found ourselves." We both looked at the man expectantly.

"Well, what do we have here? You must be new arrivals. Let me guess. Fate of the Undead, right?" We both nodded.

"Well, you're not the first. But there's no salvation here. You'd have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum... But, too late now." Now that is just rude, even if the quest is impossible, it's better than rotting away in that decrepit place. Oscar looked indignant, and was about to argue, but the man wasn't finished.

"Well, since you're here... Let me help you out. There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One's up above, in the Undead Church. The other is far, far below, in the ruins at the base of Blighttown. Ring them both, and something happens... Brilliant, right? Not much to go on, but I have a feeling that won't stop you. So, off you go. It is why you came, isn't it? To this accursed land of the Undead?" He chuckled again, the same short quiet laugh, but this time it didn't quite reach his eyes. Oscar pulled me aside.

"This man has obviously lost his will to go on. We should be wary as he may well hollow any moment." This shocked me a little coming from him, as he had gone out of his way to save me.

"You were not so different when I first met you Oscar, I will not press the issue, but I will not abandon him. Despite his meloncholy he still went out of his way to help us." Oscar looked slightly offended at being compared to the morose warrior, but thought a bit, and conceded that I may have a point.

"Before all this I lead a very sheltered life. My family was nobility, and thus I had ample time and money to hone my combat prowess. I rose through the ranks of knighthood in Astora to eventually become an elite knight. But it was only ever tournaments and quelling the occasional uprising." I nodded, but was unsure as to what prompted this tale, or how it related to the morose gentleman.

"Before facing that Demon, I had never had to face any real challenge. After my crushing defeat, I lost all hope till you dragged to my feet again. This man isnt like me though, I can tell. He is a seasoned warrior, and I can only imagine what he has gone through to end up where he is now." I nodded.

"I think I understand. Thank you for letting me get to know you a little better."

"Thank you for giving me hope and something to fight for again." He sounded much more akward, and even blushed slightly.

"Ahem... Lets split up and search for some proper gear for you." I nodded vigorously, my need to go collect shinies suddenly bubbling rapidly to the surface. I search the immediate area, and find a couple. One on a body hung limply over the side of a well, and another within some of the ruins. My mania is so great, I dont even stop to see what they are, I just need... more. I hadnt even seen Oscar head off, or which way he went.

I rush through the ruins, checking everywhere for shinies. Up a couple flights of stairs is a courtyard with large clay jars. I see no shine from them, so I leave them be. just before heading up a large staircase to the right, I notice a man standing off to the side of the courtyard. He turns away, obviously not wanting to talk, and my compulsion pulls at me, so I leave him be. Up the zig zagging stairs, there are two slots in the side of the giant stone wall that backs the area. One side has chains leading to a wooden platform resting at ground level; some sort of pulley system to get up the wall I assume. whatever the device is, I am unable to work it from here, but while checking into the bottom of the empty chute to the right I notice an area a short drop down. I hang my lower half off the ledge then drop down. Below is a natural nook formed in the side of the hill. And five beautiful chests filled with shinies!

I gathered them all up and laid them out to admire. There was a spiked mace, a small bundled rag, some old bones, strange delicate baubles on chains, and some beat up red orbs with an eye design on them. The baubles and orbs gave me an uneasy feeling, but the bones were oddly comforting. I tucked one in the back of my left hand wrap and put everything except the mace in a sling bag I fashioned out of one of my rag layers.

Unable to climb back up the way I came, I skittered down a small cliffside at the other end of the treasure nook. From my vantage point I immediatly notice four shinies spread throughout the area. The second thing I notice Is that this is some sort of graveyard. What I failed to notice in time was the skeletons rising up around me. That quickly changed when a short curved sword sliced across my back. Damn my shiny obsession, this time it had blinded me to danger till it was too late. I rolled put of the way of two similar slashes from other skeletons and was just about to turn and run before my compulsion denied that option to me. I couldn't just leave without getting them!

I turned on my heel and used the momentum to slam my new spiky mace into the ribcage of the skeleton directly behind me. He scattered into his seperate bones fron the force of the impact, but the mace became tangled in his ribcage and wrest from my grip. I rolled between the skeletons and rushed to grab the first shiny; which turned out to be a shield. As I ran through the graveyard, more and more skeletons rose up to give chase to me. By the third shiny there was a small army of re-animated bones all around me. I bashed one skeleton with the shield, and weaved between two skeletons wild swings to break from the group for the last shiny. when I got to it, I found It was a rediculouslt large sword. I attempted to grab the handle as I ran by, but the weight caused me to stumble, trip, and roll across the ground.

As I lay on my back, a giant skeleton rises up next to me, and picks up a rediculous sized curved sword. It grabs it in both hands and raises it up over me like a guillatine. I try to scramble back, but because I am still unwilling to leave the giant sword behind it weighs me down. The skeletons blade comes down, I feel the back of my flailing hand smash against a tombstone, here a snap, and suddenly... Im back at Firelink shrine? Apon noticing my surroundings I stop flailing and screaming. I hear the telltale chuckle of the crestfallen warrior.

"What's wrong? Get a bit of a scare out there? No problem. Have a seat and get comfortable. We'll both be Hollow before you know it. Hah hah hah hah...Well, what are you going to do? I've already decided. I don't really care; I'm simply crestfallen..." At this, the mirth quickly fades from his eyes, and he slouches back into place. I sit up and pull back my makeshift hood to get some air. And he looks at me strangely.

"Oh, your face! You're practically Hollow!

Hm, what? Restoring your humanity? Well, there are a few ways to go about it... Collect it bit by bit from corpses, or get yourself summoned. And the quickest way, although I'd never do it, is to kill a healthy Undead, and pillage its humanity. But who knows, going Hollow could solve quite a bit! Hah hah hah hah..." I look at him confused. what can he mean by restoring humanity? Thats when I realized it. Both him and Oscar were undead like me, but neither of them looked the way I do. They looked human...

"You are saying there is a way I can turn back? How?!" I pleaded. I could not beleive I hadnt made the connection sooner. I had assumed I was just lile this forever; a monster.

"Well, if you have enough humanity, which can be built up inside you from killing powerful foes, or found as pitch black ethereal sprites; you can sacrifice it to the bonfire to restore yourself. But be warned, this is no cure, it is only cosmetic. There is no way to break the curse for us undead..." I looked through my loot, and found some strange black sprites that had little white, eye like pinpricks and burned my skin slightly to touch. I showed him one and he nodded. I knelt before the bonfire, raised the hand clutching the sprite over the coiled sword and crushed it. I panicked slightly as a dark mist sprang from it and coelesced around my form before pouring into my darksign like water down a drain. It felt strange... like being filled but still lacking. I was satiated and yet still starved for more. Willing that small nourishment into the fire was a terrible feeling, but then warmth washed over me from the flames, and I saw my skin re-vitalize in a flash. I stood tall, and turned to the crestfallen man once again.

"Hello, I did not properly introduce myself earlier, and for that I apologise. I am Sidrach, and I'm pleased to make your aquaintance.


End file.
